I Will If You Do
by LyraLilyJackson
Summary: Because you were never happy where you were, and that one phrase changed your life...over and over again. Andromeda Tonks reflects on love and loss. One-shot.


I WILL IF YOU DO

AN: Andromeda Black is an intriguing character. I always wondered how she got where she was, and this was the result.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Harry Potter. And Snape dyed his hair purple.

* * *

He is tall, handsome, clumsy, but in an endearing way. He is the popular Ravenclaw, the jovial smart aleck that everyone loves. He wears his tie loose and greets random people in the corridors. When his friends call him Teddy he laughs and punches them affectionately on the arm.

He is a muggleborn and exactly the kind of boy your family wants you to hate.

But you can't, you just_ can't_ because secretly, you admire him and he is everything you wished you were. You're parents would sneer, saying he doesn't deserve what he has. You don't agree but you resign yourself to watching him from afar, sure your paths will never cross.

And then they do.

Sixth year. You can't sleep, so you're doing the one thing that calms you down, something your mother would never approve of, something your younger sister would turn up her nose at. There is no one to see as you fly loops around the Quidditch pitch, reveling in the freedom of the act. Then quite suddenly, he is standing there; looking up at you.

"Wotcher, Black!" he calls. "Seems like a nice night for it, yeah?"

Surprised and embarrassed at being caught, by _him _of all people, you answer more stiffly than you intended to.

"Hello. I was merely-" you stop when you realize how _formal _you sound; just like your mother.

"Oh, hush." His eyes are twinkling. "I'm a prefect, you're a prefect, and we're both out after curfew, so let's just keep it quiet, okay?" You notice, for the first time, the racing broom he is clutching.

"I will if you do," the rebellious side of you says; the side that you usually keep hidden lest you get treated like your cousin, the only member of your family you actually like.

He grins. "Deal! Now how about we see who the better flier is?"

You roll your eyes and say, "Never challenge a Black, Tonks!"

"Oh, really?" and just like that, he's up in the air. He calls back, "And call me Ted, _Andromeda!"_

You stop in shock, secretly pleased that he knows your name. But after all, that's just how he is. So you drop all your apprehensions and manage to surprise him, and yourself, when you jump onto your broom and race after him. At that time, as you both laugh together under the stars, you don't realize how much will change because of one tiny decision, and how much happiness you will gain from it.

Seventh year. You are sitting in the library, assumedly studying for NEWTS but in reality, your mind is far away.

"Wotcher, Andy." His now familiar figure drops into the chair opposite you, dumping a huge pile of books onto the table. Looking up from the parchment in front of you, you notice the dark circles around his bright blue eyes. Even his smile looks tired. A year and a half ago, you might have not noticed this. But now you know him much better, know all the quirks that make up Ted Tonks, just as he knows you better than anyone else, sometimes better than even yourself. And you know that when he looks at you, he sees so much more than the 'proper' Slytherin, he sees the _real _you, everything you are, inside and outside.

"Take a break from studying, Ted." You say gently. "You look all done in."

He snorts. "I will if you do." He says, his lips curling into a half smile. As you both grew closer, that line has come to mean so much more; it is a promise, a gentle nudge in the right direction, a way for you to rebel against the traditions you hate.

The last day of school. You are unsure of what the future holds; wondering what is going to happen to you and Ted, dreading going home to be a perfect Black like Bella and Cissa. But all your doubts vanish when he slips the beautiful diamond ring on your finger and with shining eyes, whispers, "I will if you do"

* * *

These and many more memories pass through your mind as you try to comfort the crying babe in your arms while your own tears drop silently onto the blue blanket. Tears for your lost husband and daughter, tears for one life well lived and another cut off almost as soon as it had really begun. Tears for the little boy in your arms who would never know his parents. Tears for everything good in your lives that was taken away.

As your grandson's sobs subside, you force yourself to talk, trying to comfort him as well as trying to reassure yourself at the same time. "Hush now, Teddy," you whisper brokenly. "Your parents aren't here and I'm sorry for that. But you've got to remember, they did it for you, so that you could live in a better world. Even your grandfather, he believed in a better place and was willing to fight for it, for us…. That's just how he was; and your mother inherited that, too. And now the Dark Lord's gone, he's finally gone, and things are going to get better now… I promise you Teddy, I promise that though it will seem hard sometimes, we have to try. We'll come back from this, we'll do it better, the way it was supposed to be."

Somewhere during your speech, Teddy Lupin stops crying and stares at you. Maybe it is just in response to a familiar voice, but the look in his amber eyes is uncannily familiar. A look like a challenge that almost seems to say – _I will if you do._

* * *

AN: I wasn't originally planning on ending it like that, but it's just how it came out. I liked the bittersweet ending better because it seemed like a good analogy for Andromeda's life. Please tell me in a review if you think I can improve my writing, whether you liked it, hated it….or simply if you think JKR should stop giving her fans heart attacks :p ( Harry and Hermione would have never got together, they're practically siblings and Harry said as much, too!) Thanks for reading,

LyraLilyJackson


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